Editing Metronome

{{Short description|Device that produces a sound at a regular interval}}{{other uses}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=December 2020}}
{{CSS image crop|Image=Metronome.webm|bSize=720|cWidth=220|cHeight=350|oTop=30|oLeft=230|Description=A wind-up mechanical metronome, Nikko model, clicking at 96 BPM}}

A '''metronome''' ({{etymology|grc|''{{wikt-lang|grc|μέτρον}}'' ({{grc-transl|μέτρον}})|measure||''{{wikt-lang|grc|νόμος}}'' ({{grc-transl|νόμος}})|law}}) is a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a uniform interval that can be set by the user, typically in [[tempo|beats per minute]] (BPM). Metronomes may also include synchronized visual motion, such as a swinging pendulum or a blinking light. Musicians—and others including dancers, athletes, and health professionals—often practise with a metronome to improve their timing,<!-- "PRACTISE" is the correct spelling for the verb, in the British English of this article. "PRACTICE" is a noun. Consider the similar difference between "advise" and "advice" in American English. --> especially the ability to maintain a steady [[tempo]] with a regular [[beat (music)|beat]] or [[pulse (music)|pulse]]. [[Composers]] and [[Conductor (music)|conductors]] often use numerical metronome markings to communicate their preferred tempos to musicians preparing for a performance.

A type of metronome was among the inventions of [[Al-Andalus|Andalusian]] [[polymath]] [[Abbas ibn Firnas]] (810–887). In 1815, German inventor [[Johann Maelzel]] patented a mechanical, wind-up metronome as a tool for musicians, under the title "Instrument/Machine for the Improvement of all Musical Performance, called Metronome".<ref name=maelzel /> In the 20th century, electronic metronomes and software metronomes were invented.

When interpreting emotion and other qualities in music, performers seldom play exactly on every beat. In a musically expressive performance, the pulse generally does not align with the clicks of a metronome.<ref>Iyar, Vijay S. (1998). [https://cnmat.berkeley.edu/content/6-microtiming-studies "Microtiming Studies"], from [https://www.proquest.com/openview/bf1946bfa1e63f972374f8d0a02a1a42/ PhD Thesis] at University of California, Berkeley.</ref><ref name=bonus>Bonus, Alexander (May 2010). [http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1270221548 "The Metronomic Performance Practice: A History of Rhythm, Metronomes, and the Mechanization of Musicality"]; PhD Thesis at Case Western Reserve University.</ref> This has led some musicians to criticize use of a metronome, because "musical time is replaced by clock time".<ref>Frederickson, Jon (December 1989). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/836729 "Technology and Music Performance in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"]. ''International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music'', vol. 20, no. 2, p. 216.</ref>

==Etymology==
The word ''metronome'' first appeared in English in Maelzel's 1815 patent application, and is Greek in origin, derived from ''metron—''"measure" and ''nomos—''"regulation, law".<ref>{{cite Merriam-Webster |metronome |access-date=2022-02-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=metronome |work=Oxford English Dictionary |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/metronome_n |access-date=2024-02-08}}</ref> The London patent refers to the machine as "a metronome or musical time-keeper".<ref name=maelzel />

==History and types==
===Mechanical metronomes===
[[File:Metronome Mälzel 1.jpg|Maelzel's Metronome|thumb|right]]
Historical credit for the mechanical metronome is spread across Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and German contributors.

According to historian [[Lynn Townsend White Jr.]], the Andalusian [[Inventions in the Islamic world|inventor]] Abbas Ibn Firnas created "some sort of metronome" in the 9th century.<ref>[[Lynn Townsend White Jr.|White, Lynn Townsend]] (Spring 1961). "Eilmer of Malmesbury, an Eleventh Century Aviator: A Case Study of Technological Innovation, Its Context and Tradition", ''[[Technology and Culture]]'' '''2''' (2), p. 97–111 [100]: "Ibn Firnas was a polymath: a physician, a rather bad poet, the first to make glass from stones (quartz), a student of music, and inventor of some sort of metronome."</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Maqqarī |first=Abu-'l-ʻAbbās Aḥmad Ibn-Muḥammad al- |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iaxCAAAAcAAJ&dq=metronome+Firnas&pg=RA2-PA426 |title=The History of the Mohammedan Dynasties in Spain: Extracted from the Nafhu-t-Tib Min Ghosni-l-Andalusi-r-Rattib ... by Aḥmad B. Muḥammad Al Makkari |volume=1 |date=1840 |publisher=Oriental Translation Fund |language=en |pages=148, 426}}</ref> [[Galileo Galilei]] studied and discovered key concepts involving the [[pendulum]] in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, famously inspired by a steadily swaying chandelier in [[Pisa Cathedral]].<ref name=pendulum>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YUHyhL8MyIQC&pg=PA41 |last=Murdin |first=Paul |title=Full Meridian of Glory: Perilous Adventures in the Competition to Measure the Earth |publisher=Springer |year=2008 |pages=41–43 |isbn=978-0-387-75533-5}}</ref> In 1696, musician [[Étienne Loulié]] built a pendulum-based "[[chronomètre]]", consisting of a lead weight hanging from an adjustable string alongside a {{convert|6|ft|m|0|adj=on}} vertical ruler. However, his design produced no sound, and did not have an [[escapement]] mechanism to keep the pendulum in motion.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.franzmfg.com/history.htm | title = A Brief History of the Metronome | publisher = Franz Manufacturing Company | access-date = 2010-04-02 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100324143043/http://www.franzmfg.com/history.htm | archive-date = 2010-03-24 }}</ref> To get the correct tempo with this type of visual device, a musician would need to watch the pendulum as if watching a conductor's baton.

The more-familiar mechanical musical chronometre was invented by [[Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel]] in [[Amsterdam]] in 1814, based on a [[Mainspring|spring]]-powered, inverted pendulum rod with fixed and adjustable weights to achieve compactness. Through questionable practice,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=HugqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA17 "The Metronome"]; ''The Harmonicon'', Vol. 8 (1830), p. 17.</ref> [[Johann Nepomuk Maelzel|Johann Maelzel]], incorporating Winkel's ideas, added a numerical scale, called it a metronome, and started mass-manufacturing the pyramid-shaped device in 1816 under his own name: "Maelzel's Metronome." The original text of Maelzel's patent in England (1815) can be downloaded.<ref name=maelzel>[https://books.google.com/books?id=dO80AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA7 "Specification of the Patent granted to John Maelzel, ... which he denominates a Metronome or Musical Time-keeper. Dated December 5, 1815."]. ''The Repertory of Arts, Manufactures, and Agriculture'', Vol. 33 (1818), pp. 7–13. ([https://books.google.com/books?id=-b8-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA7 alternative link])</ref>

Maelzel's mechanical metronome uses an adjustable weight on an inverted pendulum rod to control tempo. The weight slides up the pendulum rod to decrease tempo, or down to increase tempo. (This mechanism is also called a double-weighted pendulum, because there is a second, fixed weight on the other side of the pendulum pivot, inside the metronome case.) The pendulum swings back and forth in tempo, while a mechanism inside the metronome produces a clicking sound with each [[oscillation]]. A mechanical metronome does not need an [[electric battery]], but runs from a spring-wound [[clockwork]] escapement.<ref name=maelzel/> For uniform beats, the metronome should be placed on a hard, level, unmoving surface, and away from any strong magnets. Small variations in pendulum speed can also result from differences in temperature, air pressure, or gravity.<ref name=pendulum/>

Since Maelzel's era, musical tempo is almost always measured in beats per minute (BPM). Metronomes often display both BPM numbers and traditional [[tempo markings]], which are written words conveying a range of tempos and an associated character. For example, the Italian term ''Vivace'' indicates a tempo typically between 156 and 176 BPM, but it also communicates that the music should be played with a lively character.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theonlinemetronome.com/metronome-tempo-markings-defined.html|title=Common Tempo Markings in Music|first=Andrew|last=Swinney|work=The Online Metronome|access-date=2024-03-06}}</ref>

A mechanical metronome's tempo is usually adjustable from 40 to 208 BPM. The most-common arrangement of tempos on a Maelzel metronome begins with 40 beats per minute
and increases by 2 BPM: 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60,
then by 3 BPM: 63 66 69 72,
then by 4 BPM: 76 80 84 88 92 96 100 104 108 112 116 120,
then by 6 BPM: 126 132 138 144,
then by 8 BPM: 152 160 168 176 184 192 200 208.
Some modern metronomes allow adjustment to more-precise tempos (e.g., increasing 120 to 121), but such a difference is hardly perceptible.<ref>{{cite web |last=Paterson |first=Robert |title=Standard Metronome Timings and Ratios |date=2006 |url=https://issuu.com/robertpaterson/docs/standard-metronome-timings-and-rati |access-date=2020-07-04}}</ref>

===Electromechanical metronomes===
[[File:Franz metronome.jpg|right|thumb|Franz eletromechanical metronome]]
Electromechanical metronomes were invented by Frederick Franz in the US and patented in 1953.<ref>[https://patents.google.com/patent/US2715841A/ "Patent US 2,715,841: Drive mechanism for electric metronomes or the like—Frederick Franz, West Haven, Conn."] (1953).</ref> Instead of a clockwork or a [[Crystal oscillator|quartz crystal]], a plug-in electric motor operates the mechanism. Most use a [[Adjustable-speed drive#Mechanical drives|mechanical variable-speed drive]] combination with a momentary switch and a cam wheel to time the beats. A frequent feature is an embedded [[neon lamp]] that flashes in time with the beat. Franz and Yamaha were common manufacturers in the 1960s and 1970s; a popular model was the Franz LB4.

After the fall of the [[Soviet Bloc]] in 1991, the {{convert|75|ft|m|adj=on}} electromechanical [[Prague Metronome]] was installed as a silent [[kinetic sculpture]] overlooking the city, an inverted pendulum symbolizing the passage of time.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.expats.cz/czech-news/article/prague-s-iconic-metronome-celebrates-30-years-of-relentlessly-ticking-into-the-future |title=Prague uncovered: The iconic Metronome celebrates 30 years of relentlessly ticking into the future |first=Raymond |last=Johnston |work=Expats.cz |date=2021-05-14 |access-date=2024-02-15}}</ref> It may still be the world's largest metronome, although [[Geneva]] (since 1972) and [[Gdańsk]] (since 2016) each have a larger [[pendulum clock]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.patrimoine-horloge.fr/mec-geneve.html |title=Genève [Geneva] |first=Gérard |last=Guilbaud |publisher=Patrimoine-Horloge |language=fr |access-date=2024-02-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |url=https://media.muzeumgdansk.pl/komunikaty/814591/rusza-konkurs-na-nowa-nazwe-dla-rekordowego-zegara-z-muzeum-nauki-gdanskiej |title=Rusza konkurs na nową nazwę dla rekordowego zegara z Muzeum Nauki Gdańskiej [A competition for a new name for the record clock from the Gdańsk Science Museum is starting] |first=Andrzej |last=Gierszewski |publisher=Gdańsk Museum |language=pl |date=2023-06-29 |access-date=2024-02-15}}</ref>

===Electronic metronomes===
[[File:Electronic-metronome.jpg|right|thumb|Wittner electronic metronome]]
Most modern metronomes are [[Electronics|electronic]] and use a battery-powered quartz crystal to maintain accuracy in any position, comparable to wristwatches since the 1980s. Electronic metronomes are considerably smaller and more rugged than the earlier types. The simplest electronic metronomes have dials or buttons to control the tempo and volume. Some also produce or measure tuning notes, usually around the range of [[A440 (pitch standard)|A440]] (440 [[hertz]]). Sophisticated metronomes can produce two or more distinct sounds. Tones can differ in pitch, volume and/or timbre to distinguish [[Beat (music)#Downbeat|downbeats]] from other beats, as well as compound and complex [[time signature]]s. Many [[Synthesizer|electronic musical keyboards]] have built-in metronome functions with [[Drum machine|selectable rhythm patterns]].

===Software metronomes===
{{listen|image=none|filename=120BPMclicktrack.ogg|title=Click track at 120 BPM in {{time signature|4|4}} measures
|filename2=50BPMclicktrack.ogg|title2=Click track at 50 BPM, subdivided into sixteenth notes}}
21st-century digital software metronomes run either as standalone applications on computers and smartphones, or in [[Music sequencer|music sequencing]] and audio [[Multitrack recording|multitrack]] software packages. In [[recording studio]] applications, such as [[film score|film scoring]], a software metronome may provide a [[click track]] to synchronize musicians.

Portable [[MP3 player]]s including [[iPod]]s can play pre-recorded MP3 metronome click tracks, which can use different sounds and samples instead of the usual metronome click or beep. Users of smartphones can install a wide range of metronome applications. The Google search engine includes an interactive metronome that can play between 40 and 218 BPM.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/search?q=metronome|title=metronome – Google Search|website=www.google.com|access-date=2019-05-14}}</ref> Either method avoids the need to bring a physical metronome to lessons or practice sessions.

==Usage==
===Tempo indication===
In written musical scores since the early 1800s, composers and conductors (or editors) often indicate their preferred tempos using BPM metronome speeds, with or without descriptive tempo markings, to help musicians prepare for a performance. Even works that do not require a strictly constant tempo, such as musical passages with [[rubato]], sometimes provide BPM markings to indicate the general tempo. Another mark that denotes tempo is M.M. (or MM), for Maelzel's Metronome. The notation M.M. is usually followed by a note value and a number that indicates the tempo, as in {{nowrap|M.M. {{music|quarter}} {{=}} 60}}.

[[Ludwig van Beethoven]], a personal acquaintance of Maelzel, became the first notable composer to indicate specific metronome markings in his music. This was done in December 1815, with the corrected copy of the score of the [[Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt (Beethoven)|Cantata op. 112]] containing Beethoven's first metronome mark.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Noorduin |first=Marten |date=July 2016 |title=Beethoven's Tempo Indications |url=https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/files/54586757/FULL_TEXT.PDF |degree=PhD |publisher=University of Manchester |page=65}}</ref>

===Pacing tool===
Musicians often practise with metronomes to develop and maintain a sense of timing and tempo. Metronomes are also used as a training tool to achieve a desired performance speed—not only by musicians, but also by dancers,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.itaponline.com/blog/how-and-when-to-use-a-metronome-in-tap-class |title=How and When to Use a Metronome in Tap Class |first=Hillary-Marie |last=Atkinson |work=iTapOnline |date=2021-03-04 |access-date=2024-02-03}}</ref> runners,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://run.outsideonline.com/training/getting-started/running-cadence/ |title=Everything You Need to Know About Running Cadence |first=Amber |last=Sayer |work=Outdoor Magazine |date=2024-01-17 |access-date=2024-03-02}}</ref> swimmers,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://outdoorswimmer.com/coach/how-tos/swim-to-the-beat/ |title=Swim to the Beat |author=Staff |work=Outdoor Swimmer |date=2019-01-14 |access-date=2024-02-03}}</ref> and others.

Specific uses include learning to maintain tempos and beats consistently. For example, a musician fighting a tendency to speed up might practise a phrase repeatedly while slightly slowing the BPM setting each time, to play more steadily. A musician or athlete seeking to improve technical proficiency might set the metronome to gradually higher speeds until the desired tempo is achieved. This also helps to expose unintentional slowdowns due to technical challenges or fatigue. Additionally, recording musicians use [[click track]]s from metronomes to help [[audio engineer]]s synchronize audio tracks.

In health care, metronomes can be used to maintain the desired pacing in various physiological tests and procedures.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Mondal|first1=Himel|last2=Mondal|first2=Shaikat|date=July 2018|title=Applicability of android application-based metronome in physiological tests|url=http://www.ijhas.in/article.asp?issn=2278-344X;year=2018;volume=7;issue=3;spage=159;epage=164;aulast=Mondal|journal=[[International Journal of Health & Allied Sciences]]|volume=7|issue=3|pages=159–164}}</ref> For example, [[CPR]] chest compressions are significantly more likely to follow the recommended 100–120 BPM when a hospital emergency room uses an audible metronome, or when rescuers in non-hospital settings can remember a suitably paced song as a "mental metronome".<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Kaci |last1=Rainey |first2=Susan |last2=Birkhoff |title=Turn the Beat On: An Evidenced-Based Practice Journey Implementing Metronome Use in Emergency Department Cardiac Arrest |journal=Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing |date=February 2021 |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=68–70 |doi=10.1111/wvn.12486 |pmid=33555080|s2cid=231874439 }}</ref>

====Metronome technique====
"Metronome technique" is extensive and has been the subject of several books for musicians.<ref>Franz, Frederick [first published 1947]; revised by Truelson, Jon (1997). [https://www.franzmfg.com/mt.htm ''Metronome Techniques'']</ref><ref>Lewis, Andrew C. [https://rhythmsource.com/books/ ''Rhythm – What It Is and How to Improve Your Sense of It''] {{ISBN|0975466704}}</ref><ref name=Beyond>Santiago, Malcolm "Mac" (2010). [https://inchronicity.com/ ''Beyond the Metronome''] {{ISBN|1450731945}}</ref> The "intuitive" approach is simply to practise a full musical work, in time with a metronome clicking the downbeats. With more-advanced metronome technique, musicians practise separate exercises to strengthen their sense of rhythm, tempo, and musical time, while also cultivating flexibility and expression.

The basic skill required is the ability to play "in the pocket"—that is, precisely on the click of the metronome, in a relaxed fashion. It helps musicians to develop a strong sense of time, at intervals corresponding to fractions of a second. One challenge with this approach, especially for pianists and percussionists, is the metronome click seeming to vanish (or at least be heard less distinctly) when one hits the click exactly. Musicians who attempt to play in the pocket with a metronome without established technique may find that it introduces tension and effort into their performance. To address these difficulties, musicians may first learn to play consistently behind or ahead of the click whenever they want to. As a result, they develop a clear sense of "where the click is" and can train to hit the click as well.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://douglasniedt.com/metronomeisyourfriend.html |last=Niedt |first=Douglas |title=The Metronome Is Your Friend |access-date=2020-07-04}}</ref><ref>Krimmel, Max. [http://www.maxkrimmel.com/ShonaMusic/Misc.Music/MetronomeCourse.html "Max's Metronome Course"]</ref>

[[File:Video-of-2o4-at-60-bpm-with-go-silent-briefly.theora.ogv|thumb|{{time signature|2|4}} at 60 BPM. This track plays 5 measures, then goes silent for 2, 3, 4, and 8 measures (alternating with 2 measures played), a typical exercise to help internalize a stronger sense of tempo.]]
Much of modern metronome technique aims to resolve timing problems without creating overdependence on the metronome. Typical exercises are to practise maintaining a tempo while the metronome is muted for progressively longer periods of time,<ref>Santiago, ''Beyond the Metronome'', "Chapter 3: The Diminishing Click".</ref> or to practise with displaced clicks (offset from the usual downbeats) or [[polyrhythm]]s against the metronome.<ref>Santiago, ''Beyond the Metronome'', "Lesson 7: Being Inchronous Around the Click".</ref>

To help build rhythmic flexibility and musical expression in performances, preparatory exercises with the metronome often incorporate a fluid sense of timing. For example, musicians may practise drifting gradually from one beat to the next, or alternately pulling behind and pushing ahead of the click.<ref>Lewis, Andrew C. [https://www.rhythmsource.com/books/ ''Rhythm in Performance''], "Fluidity and Flexibility"</ref> As author/drummer Mac Santiago wrote: "The ability to hear the pulse and yet accelerate or decelerate slightly is a great way to incorporate human feeling into a musical performance. ... This also works for the actions of ritardando and accelerando, as they are relative to a steady pulse and are best performed gradually rather than in sudden shifts."<ref>Santiago, ''Beyond the Metronome'', Chapter 8, page 39</ref>

===Percussion instrument===
Perhaps the most famous, and most direct, use of the metronome as an unconventional musical instrument is [[György Ligeti]]'s composition, ''[[Poème Symphonique for 100 metronomes]]'' (1962). Two years earlier, [[Toshi Ichiyanagi]] had written ''[[Music for Electric Metronomes]]'' (1960). [[Maurice Ravel]] used three metronomes at different speeds for the opening of his opera about a clockmaker, ''[[L'heure espagnole]]'' (1911).<ref>Roy, Sanjoy (2012-08-17). [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/17/ravels-parents-at-heart-of-his-operas "Getting to the heart of Ravel's opera double bill"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909185545/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/17/ravels-parents-at-heart-of-his-operas |date=2017-09-09 }}, ''[[The Guardian]]''.</ref>

The clicking sounds of mechanical metronomes have sometimes been used to provide a soft [[rhythm]] track without using any of the usual [[percussion instrument]]s. [[Paul McCartney]] did this on "Distractions" (''[[Flowers in the Dirt]]'', 1989). Following the metronome, McCartney performed a rhythm track by hitting various parts of his body.<ref>''Flowers in the Dirt'' (1993) Reissue CD booklet; credited as "Metronome and body percussion".</ref> Also, in [[Ennio Morricone]]'s theme "Farewell to Cheyenne" (featured in the film ''[[Once Upon a Time in the West (soundtrack)|Once Upon a Time in the West]]'', 1968), the steady clip-clop beat is provided by the deliberately distorted and slowed-down sound of a mechanical metronome.<ref>''Once Upon a Time in the West'' (1995) Remastered and Expanded Edition. CD booklet liner notes.</ref>

Five metronomes begin [[Philip Miller (composer)|Philip Miller]]'s musical score to [[William Kentridge]]'s video installation "The Refusal of Time" (2012).<ref>Baker, Kenneth (2013-11-06). [http://www.sfgate.com/art/article/In-out-of-sync-with-William-Kentridge-s-Time-4961744.php "In, out of sync with William Kentridge's 'Time' "] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213164156/http://www.sfgate.com/art/article/In-out-of-sync-with-William-Kentridge-s-Time-4961744.php |date=2013-12-13 }}, ''SFGate.com''. Retrieved 2013-12-08.</ref>

==Reception==
=== Positive views ===
The metronome is usually viewed positively by performers, teachers, conservatories, and [[musicologist]]s (who spend considerable time analysing metronome markings). It is considered an excellent practice tool because of its steady beat, being "mathematically perfect and categorically correct".<ref>Farrell, Aaron Michael (2004). [https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/1263/ ''A Practical Guide to Twentieth-Century Violin Etudes with Performance and Theoretical Analysis''], p. 23. PhD Thesis at Louisiana State University.</ref> This removes guesswork and aids musicians in various ways, including keeping tempos, countering tendencies to slow down or speed up unintentionally, monitoring technical progress, and increasing evenness and accuracy, especially in rapid passages. Metronomes are thus commonly used at all skill levels, from beginners to professional musicians, and are often recommended to music students without reservation.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://faculty.ithaca.edu/mauk/docs/makemetronomefriend.pdf |title=Make the Metronome Your Friend |first=Steven |last=Mauk |journal=Saxophone Journal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616093241/http://faculty.ithaca.edu/mauk/docs/makemetronomefriend.pdf |date=1997 |archive-date=2010-06-16}}</ref> As commentator/violist Miles Hoffman wrote in 1997: "Most music teachers consider the metronome indispensable, and most professional musicians, in fact, continue to practice with a metronome throughout their careers."<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e6GcPB5v0yIC&pg=PA134 |title=The NPR Classical Music Companion |last=Hoffman |first=Miles |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |year=1997 |isbn=978-0618619450 |page=134}}</ref> Some musicians took this view almost as soon as the metronome was invented in the early 19th century.<ref>Petersilea, Franz. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wRVOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA330 "On Rudimental Instruction on the Piano"] in ''Dwight's Journal of Music'', Vol. 18, No. 15 (1861), p. 330; translated by G.A. Schmitt from ''Neue Zeitschrift für Musik'', Vol. 50, No. 3, 11, 16 (1859). "Correct time is considered indispensable; then why not use the Metronome. Hummel has recommended it in the strongest terms. My regard for it is such, that for twenty-five years or more I never taught a pupil without it."</ref><ref>Parker, John R., compiler (1825). [https://books.google.com/books?id=vw4AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA214 ''A musical biography: or, Sketches of the lives and writings of eminent musical characters'']. Stone & Fovell, pp. 214–215. "The Metronome ... indicates the way and proper method of obtaining all the benefit to be derived by the exhibition of true time in the tuition of music."</ref> The online book ''Metronome Techniques'' includes a "Potpourri" chapter with dozens of quotations from music teachers in favour of metronome practice.<ref>Franz, ''Metronome Techniques'', [https://www.franzmfg.com/mtbook/MTBOOKch2.htm#chiii-contents "Chapter 3. Potpourri"]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110711023055/http://www.franzmfg.com/mtbook/MTBOOKch2.htm#chiii-contents Archived] from the original on 2011-07-11.</ref>

===Stricter rhythm in modern performance practice===
The metronome has become very important in performance practice, and "largely unchallenged in musical pedagogy or scholarship since the 20th century".<ref>{{cite book |last=Bonus |first=Alexander |chapter=Chapter 4. Refashioning Rhythm |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qxiHDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT104 |title=Cultural Histories of Noise, Sound and Listening in Europe, 1300–1918 |editor1-first=Kirsten |editor1-last=Gibson |editor2-first=Ian |editor2-last=Biddle |publisher=Routledge |date=2016 |isbn=978-1317156420 |page=104}}</ref> In the 19th century, the metronome was usually not used for ticking all through a piece, but only to check the tempo and then set it aside. This is in contrast with many musicians today, who practise with the metronome in the background for the entirety of a piece of music, generally leading to steadier performances.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EzWkTNxqmF0C&q=using+the+metronome+to+tick&pg=PA19 |page=19 |editor1-first=James R. |editor1-last=Heintze |editor2-first=Michael |editor2-last=Saffle |title=Reflections on American Music: The Twentieth Century and the New Millennium |chapter=Is There a Future for the Traditions of Music and Music Teaching? |first=Leon |last=Botstein |publisher=Pendragon Press |date=2000|isbn=978-1-57647-070-1 }}</ref>

Oboist/musicologist [[Bruce Haynes]] described the role of the metronome in modern performance style in detail in his book ''The End of Early Music''. He emphasized that modern style is much more rhythmically rigid, compared with the effusive rubato and bluster characteristic of expressive 19th-century [[Romantic music]]. Because of this, musicologist and critic [[Richard Taruskin]] called Modernism "refuge in order and precision, hostility to subjectivity, to the vagaries of personality".<ref name=haynes>Haynes, Bruce (2007). ''The End of Early Music'' (Oxford University Press); pages [https://books.google.com/books?id=GcHS067yUn8C&pg=PA49 49], [https://books.google.com/books?id=GcHS067yUn8C&pg=PA57 57].</ref> These qualities gave rise to the term ''metronomic'', which [[music critic]]s use to describe performances with an unyielding tempo, a mechanical rhythmic approach, and equal stress to all subintervals; violinist [[Sol Babitz]] considered it "sewing machine" style with limited flexibility.<ref name=haynes/> Some writers have drawn parallels with a modern technological society that is ordered by the clock.<ref name=bonus /><ref>[[Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington|Young, Michael]] (1988). ''Metronomic Society: Natural Rhythms and Human Timetables''.</ref>

===Criticisms===
Unlike approximate and descriptive [[tempo markings]], a published metronome speed indicates a highly specific tempo that cannot adapt to variations in musical aesthetics, concert hall acoustics, or the instruments themselves.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Noorduin|first=Marten|date=August 2018|title=Re-examining Czerny's and Moscheles's Metronome Marks for Beethoven's Piano Sonatas|journal=Nineteenth-Century Music Review|volume=15|issue=2|pages=209–235|doi=10.1017/S1479409817000027|s2cid=193737315|url=https://pure.manchester.ac.uk/ws/files/53285245/div_class_title_re_examining_czerny_s_and_moscheles_s_metronome_marks_for_beethoven_s_piano_sonatas_div.pdf }}</ref> This is one reason why composers including [[Felix Mendelssohn]] and [[Richard Wagner]] have criticized the publication of metronome marks.<ref>{{cite web|title=Thoughts on Tempi|url=http://www.whitwellessays.com/docs/DOC_94.doc|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409172631/http://www.whitwellessays.com/docs/DOC_94.doc|archive-date=2008-04-09|work=Essays on the Origins of Western Music|first=David|last=Whitwell}}</ref> As [[Johannes Brahms]] once commented regarding his [[A German Requiem (Brahms)|''German Requiem'']]: "I think here as well as with all other music, the metronome is of no value. As far at least as my experience goes, everybody has, sooner or later, withdrawn his metronome marks."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_BfsLAQAAIAAJ/page/n81/mode/2up |title=Personal Recollections of Johannes Brahms |first=George |last=Henschel |date=1907 |access-date=2024-03-17 |page=78}}</ref>

A metronome only provides a fixed, continuous beat. Therefore, metronome markings on [[sheet music]] provide a reference, but cannot accurately communicate the [[pulse (music)|pulse]], [[swung note|swing]], or [[groove (music)|groove]] of music. The pulse is often irregular, e.g., in accelerando, rallentando, or expressive [[musical phrasing]] such as rubato.<ref>London, Justin. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/45964 "Pulse"]. In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, (accessed July 28, 2008)</ref> Even such highly rhythmical musical forms as [[samba]], if performed in a culturally authentic style consistent with recordings by early practitioners, cannot be captured with the beats of a metronome. Performances that are unfailingly regular rhythmically might be criticized as being ''metronomic'', lacking the characteristic swing of the genre.<ref>{{cite web |last=Batista |first=Pedro |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026191323/http://geocities.com/sd_au/samba/sambadrums.html |title=Understanding the Samba groove |url=http://www.geocities.com/sd_au/samba/sambadrums.html |archive-date=2009-10-26}}</ref>

Some have argued that "the metronome has no real musical value", hurting rather than helping musicians' sense of rhythm. The use of a metronome has been compared to the difference between mechanically-aided and freehand drawing, in that the output with a metronome is said to be rigid and hampering creativity.<ref>Brown, James (1927-08-01). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/913829 "The Amateur String Quartet"]; ''[[The Musical Times]]'', Vol. 68, No. 1014, pp. 714–716.</ref> American composer and critic [[Daniel Gregory Mason]] wrote that the use of the metronome is "dangerous" because it leads musicians to play by the [[measure (music)|measure]] or beat instead of the [[musical phrasing|phrase]], at the expense of liveliness, instinct, and rhythmical energy, "a dead body in place of the living musical organism".<ref>[[Daniel Gregory Mason|Mason, Daniel Gregory]] (December 1909). [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015025416416&seq=37 "The Tyranny of the Bar-Line"]. ''The New Music Review and Church Music Review'' (American Guild of Organists); vol. 9, no. 97, pp. 31–33.</ref> Even proponents of the metronome have warned that its strict speed and repetition can hinder internal rhythm and musicality when "over-used".<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.pianopractice.org/FOPP3_2Single.pdf |title=Fundamentals of Piano Practice |edition=3rd |first=Chuan C. |last=Chang |isbn=978-1523287222 |year=2016 |access-date=2024-02-15 |page=31|publisher=Createspace Independent Publishing Platform }}</ref>

==Alternatives to metronome use==
If a musician decides not to use a metronome, other methods are required to deal with timing and tempo glitches, rushing and dragging. These strategies may also be combined with [[#Metronome technique|metronome technique]] as a complementary approach.

Humans rely on an innate sense of rhythm to perform ordinary activities such as walking, hammering nails or chopping vegetables. Even speech and thought have a rhythm of sorts. Author/drummer Andrew C. Lewis recommends working to bring these everyday rhythms into music:

{{quotation |"Rhythm is everywhere. Be sensitive to it, and stay aware of spontaneous occurrences that can spur rhythmic development. Listen all the time and use your imagination. Become a rhythm antenna."<ref name="RhythmSourceBookII">Lewis, ''Rhythm – What It Is and How to Improve Your Sense of It'', "How to Improve Your Sense of Rhythm", page 55.</ref>}}

Until the 19th century in Europe, people used to [[work song|sing as they worked]], in time to the rhythms of their daily tasks. In many parts of the world today, especially tribal areas, people still sing frequently and spontaneously as they engage in daily activities.<ref>{{cite news |quote=Benny Wenda, a Lani man from the highlands, is a Papuan leader now in exile in the UK, and a singer. There are songs for everything, he says: songs for climbing a mountain, songs for the fireside, songs for gardening. 'Since people are interconnected with the land, women will sing to the seed of the sweet potato as they plant it, so the earth will be happy.' Meanwhile, men will sing to the soil until it softens enough to dig. |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global/2011/mar/15/west-papua-singing-freedom-indonesia|title=Songs and freedom in West Papua|first=Jay|last=Griffiths|date=2011-03-15|work=The Guardian|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010010616/https://www.theguardian.com/global/2011/mar/15/west-papua-singing-freedom-indonesia|archive-date=2017-10-10}}</ref> Even without singing, instrumentalists can strengthen their innate sense of pulse using quieter bodily rhythms, such as breathing, walking, foot tapping, or other activities. (Likewise, listeners often adjust these movements subconsciously when hearing rhythmic music.) Musicians can deal with timing and tempo glitches by learning to "hear an ideal performance in their mind" first, and by listening carefully to recordings of themselves and others.<ref name=Beyond/><ref name="RhythmSourceBookII"/>

''[[Notes inégales]]'' (unequal notes) are a common feature of [[French Baroque music]], in which subdivided pairs of notes are written with equal duration but performed with a long/short [[Dotted note|dotted]] or [[Triplet (music)|triplet]] rhythm. Usually, these pairs are played with steady downbeats and the same amount of [[swing (jazz performance style)|swing]] throughout, like modern [[jazz]]. Less commonly, the unequal rhythms are more extensive and irregular, like the constantly shifting rhythms of speech. In this view, rhythms that are subtly unsynchronized and uneven throughout can help to keep the music alive and interesting, and prevent any feeling of sameness and boredom. Musicians may practise organizing notes and phrases into "[[musical gesture]]s", patterns of motions that come naturally, rather than metronomically strict measures. Performers also may slightly delay or extend an important note of a musical phrase, to build a sense of anticipation or emphasis. This freer approach is a minority interpretation of ''notes inégales'' for early music, but noteworthy because of its perspective on musical time and rhythm, and its relevance to musicians practising to create an emotionally engaging experience for listeners.<ref>Ploger, Marianne; Hill, Keith (2006). [https://keithhillharpsichords.com/musical-communication#orpheiorganiantiqui "The Craft of Musical Communication"], in Johnson, Cleveland (ed.) ''Orphei Organi Antiqui''.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikisource1911Enc|Metronome}}
*{{commons category-inline|Metronomes}}
*{{wikiquote-inline}}
<!-- 
    per WP:EL, do not add commercial products here;
      (as well, do not add more online free web metronomes)
    doing so will result in a 4im only-warning before a possible editing block
-->

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1815 introductions]]
[[Category:19th-century inventions]]
[[Category:European inventions]]
[[Category:Measuring instruments]]
[[Category:Music education]]
[[Category:Pendulums]]
[[Category:Rhythm and meter]]
[[Category:Timekeeping]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]